HPD helps boy's wish come true

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Coming to Hawaii with his family was special enough for 11 year old Gabe Bingham of North Carolina, but the Honolulu Police Department took it to another level.

"One of his wishes was to ride in a police car, a Honolulu police car, a Charger and it had to be black and we picked him and his family up," said Lt. Robert Cravalho, HPD Community Affair Division.

"It's a big surprise," said Gabe Bingham, about being picked up in that black Charger patrol car.

Bingham knew he was coming to Hawaii through the Make a Wish Foundation, but he didn't know he'd get a front row seat for a personalized demonstration from Honolulu's Specialized Services Division, which included gifts from the Police Chief Louis Kealoha, holding C4 explosives and watching a police dog take down a bad guy.

"A lieutenant that we know back home had a contact here and these fine people just got on it and worked it out for him and this has been a great great experience for my son, and us. It's been wonderful," said Genevieve Bingham, Gabe's mom.

"Its life altering for all of us," said Michael Bingham, Gabe's dad.

It's not just a vacation but a break from the constant doctors visits.

"I have a disease called FSGS. It's where only a certain amount of my kidneys are functioning," said Gabe Bingham.

"FSGS is short for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis. It's scarring of the filters in the kidney," explained Genevieve Bingham. "It's scary. It's like a roller coaster because some days he's fine and you would never know to look at him and other days he has low energy. It's hard. It's tough because we don't know for sure if the transplant will work."

When he returns to Franklin, North Carolina next week he'll go on dialysis and wait for a kidney transplant. But right now top of mind is meeting pilots and how cool it was to be in the cockpit of the police helicopter. And while the helicopter flew away fast the memories are sure to stick around.

"Putting that smile on Gabriel's face... priceless," said Lt. Cravalho.

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When we asked Governor David Ige if he could beat Colleen Hanabusa in a potential match-up in 2018, he didn't hesitate with this response. "Certainly. I believe that I will be successful for any of those candidates that are considering it," he said. While Ige says he's sure he could win reelection in 2018, he says he doesn't know why powerful democratic forces are looking to defeat him with a candidate like Hanabusa in the primary election next August. "I don't know....